Friday, December 29, 2006

Derek went to the game tonight, and we'll be getting some pictures he took.

Also, Steph from No Pun Intended has the recap from a Toronto fan's point-of-view.

...........................

There was definitely a fever pitch in the air tonight. Staggy and Errey alluded to it at the top of the broadcast, and for good reason.

The puck was dropped, and you have to admit you were a little nervous. Nervous might not be the right word. Nervous is reserved for playoff time. But this felt like a playoff game.

What all happened in the first? Nothing much except Ekman going all Mark-Eaton on us.Fleury was making some big saves, and so was J.S. Aubin.

With time ticking down at the end of the first, our boy (TM) Erik Christensen snapped a shot past Aubin on the powerplay to give the Pens a 1-0 lead.

The second period was the best period of hockey in a while. End-to-end action.Halfway through the second period, Malkin was robbed on a nice save by Aubin...Before you knew it, Toronto was flying back the other way on an odd-man rush.A delicious rebound landed on Sundin's stick, and his Mellon Arena goal-count is now 145.Thankfully, that would be it for the Maple Leaves (Leafs?).

A.) How did these guys get Igloo Seats?

B.) That lady looks pissed.

Early in the third period, the Pens took advantage of a 5-on-3 powerplay when Gonchar rocketed a shot towards the net that hit Aubin's stick and went in. That was huge.

But I long for the days when we don't have to immediately think of how devastating it's going to be when the other team ties it up.Would Toronto crap on our hopes?Nope.

Six minutes after Gonchar's goal, the Pens were on another power play. Gonchar had the puck at the point and did a shot-pass to Malkin who redirected it in. 3-1. 13:00 remaining.

For the rest of the game, Toronto wasn't really able to sustain any pressure or scoring opportunities.

Edit: Anyone who watched the game on FSN tonight recognizes this lady:

In a weird twist, I have learned that she is in relation with a kid I knew in high school.I just want to know why she was predominantly featured after the goals.

With seven minutes left in the game, Jordan Staal forechecked his way into another goal. Just a nice jobber play that put the final nail in the coffin.

The rest of the game consisted of Bob Errey and Steigerwald arguing over Jack Johnson and Eric Johnson...and making the 22nd and final Murphy Dump reference of 2006.

This is obviously what they were talking about.

Stats

Crosby: 3 A

Malkin: 1 G, 1 A

Gonchar: 1 G, 1 A

Fleury: 30 saves

Shots: TOR ( 31 ) PENS ( 30 )

Powerplay: TOR ( 0 for 6 ) PENS ( 3 for 10 )

Miscellaneous

Was Ekman's injury a result of bad karma stemming from the Def Leppard joke?

Early reports on Ekman indicated an elbow injury.

Derek told me that during the Ruutu fight in the second, a Maple Leaf fan was getting beaten up/something in the stands near the penalty box.

Gonchar has been playing out of his mind recently. What a play keeping that puck in the zone with his glove.

As long as the Pens realize that this is how they have to play every night in order to get into the playoffs, then we're in good shape.

Is it just me, or have their been some weird offside calls this year?

Malkin falls again.

We didn't even notice Melichar tonight. That's a good sign.

..............................................BIG WEEK COMING UP.

This weekend, we are bringing you the 2006 calendar year in review...as well as the 2006-07 Penguins review.

We will also be in the Student Rush line for Tuesday's game against Carolina...with a camcorder.We are in the process of making a little Pens fan-video for the site.If you see us, please approach us, and we'll definitely get you in the video.

Speaking of videos......We have 90% certainty that the 1991 and 1992 playoff goals MPEG will be in our hands by Wednesday, January 3rd.

In a perfect world, the video will be available on Google Video before Friday.

Nice recap Adam...heres my observations from tonite: 1) Anyone see that lady they kept showing after we scored...she made some weird ass faces 2)You mentioned in your recap but Steigy and Bobby argueing and of course Bob won (steigy is bright) 3) Fluery patted the goal post like it was a dog in the 3rd after the Leafs ripped a shot off it 4)Steigy was on Aubins dick in the second...thats all i got have a good one

I was at the game today. Amazing. The Leafs fans are absolutely insane. They were screaming O Canada so loud at the beginning that I had to join in because it felt right. I realized how mad it must make the other teams in the NFL when their stadiums are full of Terrible Towels. That's what it felt like tonight.

The Pens fans fed off that energy and the atmosphere in the Arena was absolutely unreal. Jarko was asking for the crowd to get into it after his fight, he really had the team and the crowd going big time after that.

Chad Kilger is a goon. I think that every Leaf complained to the refs at least once, if not two or three times. This was trumped by Sundin and Pohl's 15 complaints a piece per period. What a bunch of whiners.

HUGE WIN. The fight in the stands started before the Rutuu fight and I think that once that fight started, it was generally accepted that there would be a fight on the ice.

That lady on the camera with the weird faces was two seats in front of me. She actually stood up all game to take pictures of Fleury with her cell phone, but never when the Pens scored. Weird. I've been to many playoff games in the Arena, and that felt like a playoff game tonight.

The Leaf-Pens fan fight happened right before the Ruutu fight. As the four ushers were trying to escort the Leafs fan out, the Ruutu fight started. They eventually got both guys out. The Leaf fan lost the fight, so the Pens were 2-0 tonight in fights and the fans are at least 2-0 on the year, counting the one in Washington that Lange was going on about.

Once again FSN did a lousy job producing tonight's game. The announcers were fine but the production terrible. More than once the director called for the wrong shot. They really need to watch TSN or Rodgers Sportsnet from Canada to get an idea of how to produce a game.

what a great game...loved the Ruutu fight he has been my boy all year long...has not prodeced much but come on the name catches ya!....the pens camera men always show the most odd people in the arena for the TV shots...but not me going nuts...pretty cool yesterday went to wal-mart in west mifflin and guess who was there ...Chris Thorburn..he was a funny guy talked to him for about 10 minutes cause no one came but us..sad that no one came I think

Stunning game to be at, I have never felt a crowd like this in my life. Ever since last years 3-2 ot loss my brother and I vowed to go to the next leafs game.

- National Athem. Does anyone do it better than Jeff Jimerson? Oh Canada was sick.

- The Ruutu fight situation was unreal. The dude getting smoked in the stands by the usher crew at the same time Ruutu is throwing down. Not to mention we heard a huge rumble come from the depths of Mellon Arena. I thought the place was coming down.

-The second period was the best hockey I have seen in person in a long time.

-Leaf Nation was hilarious.

-Rootbeer float from concession stand by E and F is money in the bank.

- I wore my HABs jersey to the game to piss the leafs fans off. I was getting looks from everyone. I felt like a huge jerk, naturally I loved it.

-I sat in the last seat in E. You can't see the scoreboard. Wierd thing is I liked it. It was like a guessing game to figure out how much time was left.

hah derek that sounds like the perfect pens game...I remember sitting last section E once with my buddys...with the air conditioning system blowing on the back in the winter feels good....and anything to piss off leaf nation is a plus!...and the other game of asking 3 rows down.."TIME LEFT?"...live it...breathe it...love it

Definitely a playoff atmosphere and I think the rally towels helped big time. I remember back in the '01 playoffs they handed towels out too. That's what tonight reminded me of.

I really enjoyed the beginning with the dueling national anthems. I was sitting in front of one of the large Toronto groups. As they were singing their hearts out I was looking at the players on the ice. Malkin turns his head around to look at the Toronto fans and he had one of his "What the hell is going on?" looks. Ha. It was classic. The Pittsburgh crowd responded great with the Star Spangled Banner though. I've never heard that many people sing it.

As for the fight in the stands, I didn't see it because everyone around it was standing up. On that note, what was up with the JumboTron not working on 2 sides?

Finally, anyone sitting in Section A,B,C 27 area: Was that Jeff Reed drinking beer and eating Twizzlers or just a dude that looks exactly like him? Myself and those around me questioned it for the entire 2nd intermission. I've seen him there before, I know he goes to Pens games, but I just wasn't sure...

Kubina cleared a puck straight into the screen and from that point on it wasn't working properly.

Also, my dad made a great point tonight. It's going to be big in the next few weeks to start getting goals from guys like Ouellet, Talbot, Colby, and Thorburn. If they can chip in the odd goal, it's going to go a long way to shoring up a spot for us in the playoffs.

You are exactly right Adam about the game being like a playoff game. I was at the game and you could def. feel the playoff atmosphere with all the Leaf fans in attendance and most of which, drove down from Toronto...wtf? Good and much needed W for the Pens!

E is the place to go the further back you go the crazier it gets, I love when people yell how much time john..priceless...my other favorite section is C..i have seen a fan from either the Pens or opposing team ges kicked out each game in section C...I might have to try and make the canes game now and just yell pensblog on my way to the back of the line and try and find you guys haha

hey guys huge post tonight, i was in and out all night so i listened to the radio broadcast. But i made my wife eat dinner at Chili's just so i could watch the game. There was like 10 pens fans there, just as i sit down the Ruutu fight started (ahh the memories of Francois Leroux). So they are squaring off and people start yelling at the TV. So i give my wife that "i am sorry ahead of time look" and proceed to scream "Kick his ass Ruutu!!!" To which the guys at the bar start chanting Ruutu, Ruutu, once they notice the cut on the Toronto's face. It was sweet.

In a non related but really funny to me story. We left to go to Target (i would so buy one of those fake Penquins jerseys if they actually made them) I was looking at Xbox 360 games, and I farted so bad. I went to my wife and told her i was going to the bath room... I came back and she just started laughing, i apartetly cleared 5 ilses of electronics with my fart.

I never wish injury on anyone, but this team will be much better off with Ekman out of the lineup. He's a useless piece of crap. He never scores, his plus/minus is hideous, and he steals power play time from people who actually, you know, have skill.

Now that that's out of my system, I'm just going to second (third? fourth?) what everyone who was at the Igloo said about last night's atmosphere. "Electric" isn't even the word.

The coolest thing about the Rutuu fight was that it just kept going. I couldn't believe that the officials let it go on that long. With everyone standing around watching, it looked like a prison duel. Just awesome.

That 6 or 7 minute stretch around the middle of the second period may have been the best, most frentic, most exciting hockey i've ever seen live.

Finally, even though he sort of bumbled around early, and almost knocked himself out against the boards during the second period, Malkin played one HELL of a third period, where it seemed like he was everywhere.

If this team could just be consistent, I'm convinced that they could win the division.

Wow I would kill a puppy to have been there. The last time I went to a Pens/Leafs game it was my first time in the Igloo Club seats, 11 rows up behind the penalty boxes, and the power went out twice. And the pens lost. And McCabe suckered Sid in the face at the end and busted his nose open.